As I opened my eyes, I was in a dark place. It was cold and smelly. My body felt numb. This place is really narrow. I needed to do something, I tried to struggle to move. As my body can move a bit, I tried to feel around this place using both hands. I felt that I was trapped inside a box that could suit a human. I tried to knock it from the inside. As I knocked it from the inside, I could hear someone reply to the knock.
"Oh, it seems you have been back to this world. I thought that you failed." I am familiar with this voice. She is the one who rescued me from prison. If I'm not mistaken, her name was Elar. The lid of this box is opened from the outside after a while. Ah, I can feel the air. But, the air here stinks. What the hell is going on here?
I cover my mouth and nose with both hands. Elar looked at me, and she laughed a bit. "What?" She tried to stop laughing.
"Nothing, I just realised that you can't handle this smell. This smell is the smell of a rotten corpse. As you can see around, this place is a place that stores people who failed to escape from that world. I can see that there are many people here.
"Hey, is there anyone like me, who has passed from that world?"
If someone like that dies and no one is waiting for him or her, they will perish inside that box. You are just lucky that I passed this place around. Maybe you could say something to me." I thought she wanted me to praise her.
"Erm... thanks," I said with a bad expression.
"Hey! At least put more effort into it. You know that it is hard for me to help someone."
"Thank you for helping me. I am really grateful to Elar. " She looks at me with a serious face.
"What did you say just now?"
"I am really grateful to Elar."
"That is not my name."
"So, what is your name?"
"That is a secret. I will not tell anybody else. "
"If you don't want to tell me your name, what should I call you?"
"You can call me ma'am."
"Are you married yet?"
"It is not like that. I am just comfortable with that term."
"Okay, if you want me to call you that."
"Hey, It is already night. I will bring you to your room." Then, we got out of this cave-like place and went to eat first before entering the room. As I was about to enter the room, she said something to me. "You need to sleep early tonight. Tomorrow, I want you to go there." She shows me a field outside my room through a window. I slept as soon as she went back to her room.
Tomorrow morning, I went to the field that the girl asked me to go to. As I got to the field, that girl said something to me. "Hey, what made you come here so late? Hurried, move faster." She said to me with a louder voice. I went to her without saying anything.
"What do you want me to do this early morning?"
"Oh, as you become this city soldier. You are now under my leadership. So, I will train you to become a full-pledged soldier. " I think I will get killed soon if I continue to train with her.
"Can I choose a leader that can train me?"
"Are you sure? Because there is no one here like me who wants to train an outsider like you. You might get bullied, or it might be worse." She looked at me with a teasing face. I think I have been bullied by her.
"If you said so, I think I have no choice here. Alright, I will follow your instructions."
"Yeah, that's the spirit. Now, follow me." She brought me to the archery field.
"You want me to take a trial in archery?" She nodded.
"Take this bow and arrow." She gave me one traditional bow and one bag of full-sized normal arrows.
"Wow, you gave me this many arrows?"
"Your trial is simple. Shoot and get a bullseye continuously. a minimum of twenty times. My personal best is fifty times on the bullseye.If you pass me, I will treat you as a normal person. You have a limited time. If you can do as I said in one week, you pass. If not, you will get executed."
"What do you mean by executed?"
"That's my contract with the higher-ups. If you fail in my trial, you will get executed. So, take it seriously. I mean it."
Whoa, she really wants to help me. I think I have misunderstood what she was doing. I should do my best during this one week. After that, I used the bow to aim for the target. As I released the bowstring, the arrow started to move to the targets. Then, the arrow hit the ground. I tried for my next arrow to hit the targets. As early as possible, all of it does not even hit the targets. She came to me and said something.
"You have been to archery before?"
"Nope, this is my first time."
"Would you like me to teach you some archery tips?"
"Please, ma'am. I want to know."
"First, you need to be in a balanced stance. Widen your legs and make sure that you are comfortable." She shows me the stance she wants me to take. "Are you right-handed?"
"Yes, I am."
"Ok, nice. Next, put the bow in your left hand and try to lift it up by your side. Make sure you do not force yourself to grip that bow."
"Okay."
"Finally, put the arrow on the bowstring and try to shoot it. Before that, aim first and use your right hand to control the power to shoot." I did what she told me to. As I shot, it hit the targets, but only in the white colour. "Well done, you hit it. Now, do what you can to hit the bullseye. I will come here on the last day." Then, she disappeared from my sight.
On that day, from dawn to dusk, I trained my archery skills until I became good. I get some rest when I am tired and eat some food from the mess hall for lunch. For today, my effort was not in vain. At least, I got one bullseye from hundreds of shots. It was already night. I went back from training and took some food from the mess hall. After cleaning myself, I got into the room and slept.
On the second day, I woke up early and continued my training from yesterday. On this day, I made quite a little progress after getting five bullseyes, but not in continuously shooting. The next day and the day after that, I kept practising and practising to make my training work. It took a lot of effort to get me this far.
On the last day of this one week, that girl met me at the archery field. "So, has there been any improvement?" Then, she was quite shocked when she saw my skin getting burned and tanned. "Sorry, I think I got the wrong person."
"It is me. I practise a lot without realising my skin becomes like this."
"Oh, poor you."
"Ah, it's nothing."
"Are you ready for the trial?" I nodded. "Then, show me what you got." I stayed in an archery stance and calmed my mind. I pulled the bowstring while lifting the bow. I focused on the targets. As soon as I was ready, I shot the targets. The arrow hit the bullseye. I tried to relax and calm down. Then, I put another arrow on the bow and shot at the targets. It hit the bullseye. I do the same thing for the next two arrows. There are nineteen arrows that hit the targets.
As for the last arrow, the surrounding situation suddenly changed. The wind blows heavily, and when it rains. I've lost my focus for now. It is my last shoot. If it does not hit it, I will be gone. What should I do? In this one week, only today it rained. Who knows what is going to happen? I shot the last arrow on the targets. My hope was about to disappear when I saw the arrow was hit by some rain droplets and pushed by some wind.
I closed my eyes to not see this failure. A few moments later, I heard a voice from behind me. "Well done, you did it. Do you want to continue?"
"I don't want to do it anymore. I am tired..." Then, I passed out after that.
"Hey, wake up. Wake up." I can hear her voice a bit. That makes me feel a bit relieved.
As I woke up and realised, I found myself in a room and on the bed. This room does not look like my room either. Where am I actually? "You are in my room." That girl just said to me.
"Huh! Seriously?" She nodded.
"With that reaction, are you afraid I'll steal your first-time sex?"
"It is not like that, I felt guilty when you carried me here. Also, I want to say that I felt great that someone wanted to help me. Thank you." I could see a bit of her face in red. Even in her room, she concealed her face with a face mask.
"Hahaha... it's nothing for me to help someone under me." I could hear her voice and felt shocked. "As you have completed the trial, I will see you as a normal person."
"Are not we made an agreement before?"
"What is it?"
"You should tell me your name and why did you wear that face mask even though we are in your room? Are you a shy person or what?"
"Are you sure you want to know about me?" I nodded. "Then, I will tell you everything about me." She opened her face mask. I could not believe a girl with a lovely face was in front of me. She is really pretty and I think I am charmed by her right now. "I know that you might be disgusted with me."
"Why would I? You look really pretty. Why would someone want to hate you."
"Thank you for that praise. But a soldier like me will feel a bit differently about it. If you want to know, people here always said to me that I should not become a soldier. They told me to stay at the home."
"I felt sympathy for you."
"That's why I wear this kind of mask. Ah, I forgot to introduce you to my name. My name is Laura." Oh, that makes sense when I hear that Pharaoh called her Elar. It is a combination of the words "L" and "R." Now I understand.
"Do you want me to introduce myself to you?"
"I already knew about you." So, she already knows.
"You should rest in my room. Your body is still weak. You need to regain your strength. Tomorrow, I want to show you something. Sleep well." She sits on the lazy chair and closes her eyes. I continued my sleep, because I was still tired. My body felt numb.
When I woke up tomorrow, I realised that Laura does not stay in the lazy chair anymore. I tried to look for her. When my hand moved to take off the blanket, I felt something soft under the blanket. My heart is just beating fast right now. What is this soft thing? I felt curious and wanted to know more. As I took off the blanket, I found that Laura was under it. I felt relieved that I had just touched her face only. Also, we are still wearing clothes on this bed. I hope that we did not do anything immoral last night.
Then, I pushed myself out of bed. "Laura, wake up. You said to me that you wanted to show me something this early morning. She tried to open her eyes. She looks cute when sleeping.
"Oh, you're awake. Ugh, sorry. I'm a sleepwalker. I hope it does not disturb you."
"So, what do you want to show me?"
"Oh..." She yawned for a moment. "Wait a minute, I need to make some changes." Then she took off her clothes in front of me.
"Why did you undress here?" I am a bit surprised. I turn my head backwards. I won't see her like that.
"Did the guy like the girl who was undressed in front of them?"
"I am not like that."
"You can close your eyes."
"I am doing that right now."
"Hahaha... You are an interesting person. Wait a moment." Then, she brought me to the archery field.
"You want me to hit the bullseye again?" She nodded.
"But I want to show you this skill first. Do you remember that I said I could make a bullseye fifty times?" I nodded. "That is my shot of rapid shooting. I can make it hit ten times in one round. Do you want to see me do it?"
"Yeah, sure. I would like to see it." Is she lying or saying the truth? I don't know.
"Behold my skill. Rapid bullseye. Hahaha... just kidding. Here I come." She stands in a good stance for archery. Then, she tried to grasp a few arrows to make her hand feel like it had a better grip. When she gets ready, she shoots the arrows one by one without rest. Her hand is moving so fast. After the tenth arrow hit the targets, she stopped shooting and looked at me. It seems she wants me to praise her.
"Wow, you are amazing." I looked at the targets and all ten arrows hit the bullseye zone. "Eh, how did you do that?"
"I trained this skill for years to master. Do you want to learn this skill?" I don't say anything about learning this skill.
"I don't think I want to learn that skill. If I want to learn it, maybe I should rest my body first. My body is still recovering from the hellish training I went to this week."
"Okay, I want you to rest for today. Tomorrow I want you to follow me. Make sure this time you are well prepared." Today, I got back to my room earlier. When I rested my body on the bed, I could hear someone calling me. It is from the watch.
"How long do you want to rest and do nothing. You said you wanted to give me some food."
"Oh, you're an arachnid that I captured before."
"First of all, my name is Mia."
"I don't know if even an arachnid has a good name."
"Thanks for the praise."
"Why do you just appear right now?"
"Oh, I don't want to disturb you in your training. I could understand your feelings to get better in all things."
"Wow, you know a lot."
"I also know the night you spent with that girl."
"Eh, really!"
"Yes, because I'm with you. That is what partners do. Is not it?"
"You make me feel uneasy. Okay, I want to rest right now. She wants to take me somewhere else."
"Are you sure you want to follow that girl?"
"I think that is my way of improving my skills. Okay, bye." Then I slept.
"Ah, poor Hulaif. He did not know that the training from that girl would be more hellish after this."